BREAKING NEWS! Western Australia DAMA Program Update 2021
Are you a skilled-migrant who is thinking of moving to Perth regional areas? Are you looking for more opportunities in Perth regional areas? This news will make your day! The state government of Western Australia provided major updates for its Goldfields DAMA Program last week on 25 February 2021.
The update was provided to further encourage skilled migrants to move and work in regional Australia as part of addressing the high demand of jobs in regional areas. We’ve summarised the updates for you but before heading straight into them here is some information that you should know about DAMA.
What is the DAMA Program?
A Designated Area Migration Agreement (DAMA) is a five-year formal agreement between Australian Government and a Designated Area Representative (DAR). The program was first introduced in 2019. The Designated Area Representative is the regional, state or territory authority.
DAMA Programs fall under the Labour Agreement stream of the Temporary Skill Shortage visa (Subclass 482), the Employer Nomination Scheme visa (Subclass 186) or the Skilled Employer-Sponsored Regional (Provisional) visa (Subclass 494). What is special about the program is that not only it provides a pathway to permanent residency, it also offers English, salary, and age concessions for some occupations. As of today, there are 7 active DAMA programs:
- Northern Territory DAMA;
- The Goldfields DAMA, WA;
- Great South Coast DAMA, Victoria;
- Adelaide City Technology and Innovation Advancement;
- South Australia Regional DAMA;
- Orana DAMA, New South Wales;
- Far North Queensland DAMA.
What is the Goldfields DAMA Program?
The Goldfields DAMA Region is the agreement between Australian Federal Government and Western Australia state government represented by the City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder and several Shires (Coolgardie, Dundas, Esperance, Leonora, Menzies, and Ravensthorpe).
The purpose of the program is to address skill and labour shortages of the respective region by attracting skilled migrants to live and work there. Skilled migrants must be sponsored by businesses in the region under the agreement and cannot apply the program by themselves.
Contact us for more information about the DAMA program!
What are the updates for Goldfields DAMA Program?
Here is the summary of the new changes of the Goldfields DAMA Program:
1. Newly added occupations
When it was introduced, the program only had 72 occupations on the list of sponsorship. Now entering the second year of the agreement, the program will have around 125 occupations available to be sponsored. This will make Goldfields DAMA the second program with the most occupations covered. You can access the full occupation list for the program here.
2. New members
Three new Shires have joined the Goldfields DAMA Program as of 2021, making a total of 7 members of the program. The new additional members are Dundas, Esperance, and Ravensthorpe.
3. New occupations outside ANZSCO
There are 4 new occupations included in the program which are not classified under the Australia and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupation (ANZSCO). They are Sound & Light Technician, Rope Access Technician, Asphalt Technician, and Process Technician. These occupations are identified with the code 070499.
4. New age limits for PR nomination
The age limits for PR nomination have been divided into two groups based on skill level. For skill level 1 occupation, to be able to be nominated for PR the applicant must be under 55 (age limit 54). While for the skill level 2 to 4, the applicant’s age limit for PR nomination is 49 years old.
5. New TSMIT concessions occupations
The current Temporary Skilled Migration Income Threshold (TSMIT) to nominate a worker is set at AUD $53,900. However, there is a concession for this case under the Goldfields DAMA Program. The occupations that have access to this concession are as follows:
| ANZSCO Code | Occupation | Skill Level |
|---|---|---|
| 4234111 | Aged or Disabled Carer | 4 |
| 721111 | Agriculture and Horticultural Mobile Plant Operator | 4 |
| 121312 | Beef Cattle Farmer | 1 |
| 421111 | Child Care Worker | 3 |
| 421112 | Family Day Care Educator | 4 |
| 831211 | Meat Boner and Slicer | 4 |
| 423312 | Nursing Support Worker | 4 |
| 423313 | Personal Care Assistant | 4 |
| 361211 | Shearer | 3 |
| 831212 | Slaughterer | 4 |
| ANZSCO Code | Occupation | Skill Level |
|---|---|---|
| 4234111 | Aged or Disabled Carer | 4 |
| 721111 | Agriculture and Horticultural Mobile Plant Operator | 4 |
| 121312 | Beef Cattle Farmer | 1 |
| 421111 | Child Care Worker | 3 |
| 421112 | Family Day Care Educator | 4 |
| 831211 | Meat Boner and Slicer | 4 |
| 423312 | Nursing Support Worker | 4 |
| 423313 | Personal Care Assistant | 4 |
| 361211 | Shearer | 3 |
| 831212 | Slaughterer | 4 |
What do these Goldfields DAMA Program new changes mean to skilled-migrants?
These changes are a good sign! It means that there are more opportunities in regional areas than ever. Not to mention that some of the occupations under this program have better opportunities to get permanent residency. The Australian government wants skilled-migrants to live and work in regional areas. Hence, they keep updating the regulations to skilled migrants’ advantage.
If you are wondering what the easiest pathway is for permanent residency, this program is your answer. If you are wondering when the best time is to become a permanent residency, now is your answer!
See our news about other DAMA Program (South Australia) changes here.
We are here to help!
We understand that applying for a visa to Australia is certainly very complex and even more complex due to the Australian international travel ban.
Our visa specialists at ONE derland Consulting will help you assess your visa options.
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Take the first leap and get in touch with us. Our migration agents and our team are professional, honest and our team members are able to speak various languages such as Mandarin/ Chinese, Bahasa Indonesia, Arabic, Japanese, Polish, German and Russian.
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